Taipa Salt Pig's artisan sea salt producer embraces simplicity

James Moore, of Taipa Salt Pig, shows the evaporation process underway on a sunny hillside at his Taipa property. Photo / Donna Russell

Seawater and sunshine are the essential ingredients of the Taipa Salt Pig products.

Owners James and Yasmin Moore have been finding success, with their products already winning awards.

For James, the lifestyle it allows him has been cathartic after the trials of his former highly stressful business life in Hamilton. He needed to find an easier lifestyle and hit on the idea of sea salt as a food product that he could create easily.

Now living on a lifestyle block in the hills near Taipa, where he has a glimpse of the sea, James is revelling in the fledgling business where he is consistently selling everything he makes.

Taipa Salt Pig Citrus Zest Salt won a gold medal in this year's Food Producer Awards. Last year he won a silver medal for the plain salt product.

Taipa Salt Pig products are now stocked in specialist shops in Northland and Auckland.

A partnership with his neighbour, Zarv Whitford, has led to Ocean, bottled freshwater made from seawater. Seawater is put through an evaporation process, with the pure water bottled and sold to restaurants and specialist outlets.

They are now developing a sparkling-water version, with the etched bottles able to be recycled.

He has dreams of building salt and water farms all the way down the country, perhaps in a type of franchise model or as a partnership.

He is adamant his simple methods will remain the same, without using noisy machinery or pumps.

Seawater is gathered by hand in two 20-litre stainless-steel buckets from beaches where there is "beautiful clear water".

"I try and go somewhere I can park on the grass nearby so I don't have to carry the buckets too far,'' he said.

James said he didn't go out when there had been a lot of rain because the seawater could possibly be tainted by washout from the land.

"Apart from anything, it looks horrible if there is sediment,'" he said.

To meet health requirements for products, the water was tested after it had been made into salt and diluted again.

"Very few bacteria can survive in that level of salinity, so our products are very safe and pure,'" he said.

James Moore, of Taipa Salt Pig, with the latest batch of sea salt made in a tunnel house. Photo / Donna Russell

Seawater is about 3 per cent salt and the water harvesting process creates a more concentrated brine.

This is placed in shallow black trays arranged on a sunny hillside and covered in clear plastic covers for the sun to continue the evaporation process.

A tunnel house containing a large pool lined with black plastic is also used to create salt.

Salt is produced all year round on the sunny Northland property, with salt crystals taking anything from three to five weeks to form, depending on the weather.

"Humidity is not our friend in this business. This winter has been a bit tough,"' he said.

The various salt farm areas outside the house have been given names, reflecting his quirky sense of humour.

"We have the Moon Pool, North Wall, Crystal Palace, Bonneville Flats and Gertrude the Glorious, which was a name that came through in a competition on social media.''

James said he was still brimming with ideas, and he "hadn't scratched the surface of all the possibilities".

Flavoured salts included squid ink, chilli, citrus zest, garlic, red wine, rosemary, smoked and Togarashi, which is a spicy Japanese chilli blend.

"I am always experimenting with new flavour ideas. We have been playing around with marmite, liquorice and black pepper flavours as well as rice wine vinegar and chocolate salt flavours.

"Salt and chocolate together do something to your taste buds. It's amazing,'' he said.

"Salty chocolate is popular so why not chocolatey salt?"

A new cookbook featuring 10 recipes using different flavours of salt has been launched this month, with recipes created by Natasha MacAller, an international chef and culinary consultant who is a former ballerina and is known as the Dancing Chef. She divides her time between London, Los Angeles and a home in Kerikeri.

James said the cookbook was an exciting development for the business, and he is now selling the book with a package of 10 flavours of salts.

James said his sea salts were not recommended for use in salt grinders because they did not contain anti-caking agents, and humidity could cause grinders to clog. They should be kept in salt pigs and sprinkled with a small spoon.

"We like to keep our products completely natural with no additives.

"We say, 'Embrace your sprinkle and throw away your grind'," he said.